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Rosy but not rich enough

I love the scent of roses and I'm very fond of the cosmetics company L'occitane. I've a few bottles or rollers of their Rose 4 Reines perfume and I've had several bottles of the handwash in the same range so you would suppose that I'd love the hand cream. Sadly it's not the case. The range takes its name from the use of four different rose oils, each representing one of the daughters of a wealthy French man all of whom married princes and went on to become queens - hence 4 reines (or 4 queens). It's a nice story but I believe that L'Occitane have withdrawn the four queens range and now replaced it with one of their other rose ranges. They seem to tweak the rose products every few years.

A friend gave me a small tube and whilst I am now down to the final couple of squeezes, I find it rather disappointing.

It delivers an intense blast of rose impact - more than you'd probably expect and possibly more than I'd really like. What it doesn't deliver is the high degree of rich moisturisation that I associate with most of the L'Occitane hand creams. I wondered at first if this one didn't have shea butter - an absolute must for any hand cream - but it does. Perhaps it's just at a much lower level than would be typical for this company.

Either way, once that last squirt's out of the tube, it'll be in the bin and I won't bother to replace it.

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Floral Hand Cream

Rose 4 Reins Velvet Hand cream------------------------------------

It's coming to that time of year again when using hand cream is a must for me. The winds are drying to my skin, but it's not yet cold enough to wear gloves. Using a good quality product is essential, otherwise why bother? Therefore I always turn to L'occitane products as in my opinion they are the best.

L'occitane has a whole range of hand creams - from ultra-hydrating to light and cooling. The product I am using, and the purpose of this review at the moment, sits nicely between the two ends of spectrum and is perfect for this time of year.

As you would expect Rose 4 (quatre as its French) Reins, is floral scented. It's a vibrant mixture of four different species - Grasse, Moroccan, Bulgarian and Turkish Roses. These are all widely considered to be the best available.

The Product--------------

The tube I own, was gifted to me for my birthday by my sister. This is a travel sized at only 10ml, and comes in the style of an artist's paint tube. The full sized version is a much more economical 75ml, and comes in a rather luxurious, be it plastic, tube. The dusky rose and gold packaging looks like it comes from a premium range, as indeed it does as you can tell from its £14.00 price tag. This can be purchased from other retailers for a much more respectable price though if you shop around.

Dispensing the product is easily done, as this is neither gloopy nor watery. Once this is squeezed upon the hand, the product will begin to melt into the skin more or less instantly, leaving no residue or stickiness behind. After application I am able to grasp things with ease, and complete my day to day chores without having to wait a while to absorb. My skin is left feeling silky smooth, velvety soft, and nicely moisturised.

Fragrance------------

The fragrance lingers for a long time, so if you dislike highly scented products or rose fragrance this hand cream is most definitely not for you. If however, you love rose or floral scents, I can most highly recommend this as being perfect for you own personal use or even as a gift. The rose scent may lend itself more to being old ladies favourite, but at forty something myself, it's not that old fashioned and I love it too.

I find I am using this hand cream two or three times a day at the moment, but as the seasons change and I find I need to apply more often, I will change to another more moisturising L'occitane hand cream.

My Recommendation------------------------

I highly recommend this product as being perfect for the spring and autmn months, due to the added shea butter (it's not intensive enough for winter use); but only if you love rose scents.

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Product Details

Enriched in shea butter and vitamin E, this cream nourishes, protects and helps repair hands from daily aggressions / Hands are moisturized and delicately perfumed with the fresh and velvety fragrance of the Grasse, Bulgarian, Moroccan and Turkish roses /